CapitaLand's acquisition of Ascendas-Singbridge completed

MAINBOARD-LISTED property heavyweight CapitaLand will mark a new milestone on July 1 as it has completed the acquisition of Ascendas-Singbridge and will start operating as a unified entity.

In a regulatory filing by CapitaLand on Sunday, the real estate giant announced that it had completed its transaction with Temasek and acquired all the issued shares of Ascendas and Singbridge. With this, the group has become one of Asia's largest diversified real estate players with over S$123 billion of assets under management. Its global network of commercial, retail; business park, industrial and logistics; integrated development, urban development; residential; lodging; as well as fund and asset management businesses spans over 30 countries across more than 200 cities.

Lee Chee Koon, group chief executive of CapitaLand, said: "The completion marks the coming together of two leading real estate players as one unified entity. As an enlarged group, we possess fully integrated capabilities in four core markets - Singapore, China, India and Vietnam, while building greater scale in developed markets. With more asset classes in these markets, we will go further to achieve transformational growth. Diversifying our portfolio to new economy sectors such as business parks, logistics and industrial properties, will give us added competitive edge via a bigger global network of touchpoints. With greater access to the best talents, capital partners, markets and asset classes, we are confident of building CapitaLand into a winning global company."

Key integration deliverables accomplished include the harmonising of key operational and governance processes, formalising of reporting structures and aligning of key performance indicators and financial reports in the group's functions and business units across all geographies, according to the statement.

The transaction had earlier received overwhelming approval by CapitaLand's independent shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting in April 2019.

CapitaLand closed one Singapore cent or 0.28 per cent down to S$3.53 on Friday.